What type of carpet to use?

[geedubcpa]

I have seen outdoor carpet at lowes and home depot - it is not rubberbacked - and I wondered if anyone has used this in the boat. The reason I like it is because the grey carpet is very thin and not likely to get hooks and stuff caught in it. I am only using the carpet (not for comfort) but mainly to cover up the wood floor, and to cover up the wood panels on the sides of the boat.

Any ideas on this?


gw

 

[drewpster]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

Some folks may give you a hard time for using any kind of carpet on a boat deck. Carpet holds water that soaks in to wood causing warping and eventually rot.
Personally I Like carpet but I take extra steps to make sure it does not get exposed to allot of water. (rain, waves and the like)
If you are covering exposed wood, I would recommend you coat it with something to seal it prior to carpeting. This applies no matter what kind of carpet you select. At a minimum I would seal the wood with primer and paint. (marine) The best, longest lasting option is to seal the wood with a covering of fiberglass and resin. A good in-between option is to seal it with polyurethane used on hard wood flooring. I have a friend who tried this on his pontoon boat and it is holding up pretty well. Anything you use to help seal the wood is better than leaving it bare.
I have looked at the outdoor carpeting you mentioned that Lowe's carries. It will work. Obviously purpose made marine carpeting is better suited to boats and offers some advantages over regular outdoor stuff. (selection of colors being one of them) Marine carpet also has the backing made for the glue used, as well as some cushion for bare feet. (my reason for using it) Whatever you choose do not depend on the carpet to seal moisture from the wood. Be sure to coat it with something first. If water gets in to the wood the carpet will keep it from drying back out.

 

[ddrieck]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

Don't worry about the carpet bashers on here.....its your boat do what yu please.
With that said, I used the grey outdoor carpet from Home Depot. I painted the deck with gray Rustolium first, then glued the carpet down with contact cement. Its been on there going on 2 1/2 years and it still looks good and is holding up very well. It has not caused any rot so far but i do keep the bow up and the boat covered when no in use.
I do have one spot were my portable gas tank vent spilled out some gas and it discolored it a bit. However, the contact cement held strong. If its the same carpet that I have, it has a no fade warranty as well. I installed some side panels a couple of months ago and the 2 1/2 year old carpet is the same exact color as the new stuff on the side panal.

 

[jpmurphy]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I just finished carpeting my retirement project 15' tinny. I used blue and red. Blue from HD and the red from Lowes. Niether store had both colors. Go figure. Both were indoor/outdoor carpet. The blue from HD had no serious backing & was therefore easy to work with when cutting and laying. The red from Lowes had thicker backing and was difficult to work with. I sealed all of the wood and used a heavy duty carpet adhesive from HD. Be sure to keep the cover on the can as it will eventually get sticky and difficult to use.

The carpeting came out looking really great when I was finished and I was totally satisified. However................I primarilly use my boat for fishing and this does present a problem. Everything tends to grab hold and stick to the carpeting. The dirt from the nightcrawlers gets ground in, hooks will get caught, scales from what few I catch stick pretty well. Soda spills, ashes, etc etc etc. Every time I return from fishing with my 40 yr old son I need to vacumn out the boat. As long as you use plenty of the proper carpet adhesive, keep the boat clean and covered you will probably love the finished appearance. I think the upkeep with carpet is more than on a boat without carpet, but I far prefer the finished appearance.

And most important,,,,,,,it doean't get very hot and it feels really great on the bare feet.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

Lowes sells Marine carpet . My local store only stocks one color but they can order many colors ask one of the reps in the carpet area and they can show you what they can get . I decided to go with vinyl on my boat but thats just my preferance .


Rick

 

[oops!]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

now hang on a minit here guys..........

i just did a carpet installation on a 20 footer, the guy brought me some cheap carpet from a store like hd....(rona here in canada).

the stuff had no backing and was so thin ....it didnt roll....it kinda folded and wrinkeled.....it was allmost impossible to get the stuff to lay flat to get the wrinkles out.....

also is was so thin that the glue actually came thru the carpet !

when you held the carpet up to the light you could easily see thru it....i cut it with cheap sizzors.

the real drag was when i was laying the carpet with outdoor glue......where ever i would kneel on the carpet the glue would come right thru the carpet...i even used a kneel board and the glue came thru that too.....

this prevented me from rolling the carpet after it was laid.......(rolling is a step you do after its laid to flatten and remove any wrinkles)...after much fuss..(and lots of mineral spirits to remove all the glue that came thru)...it looked really good........but it was one hull of a fight.

i did a test on the carpet for the customer.....i put glue on a peice of the carpet and squeezed the carpet between two fingers the glue came thru both peices and on to my fingers.

after the carpet was laid......even a day later the glue still bled thru....ig cave the carpet a brownish tinge.

it was terrible stuff...........

so when you buy.....make sure it is thick enough and ask if you can do a squeeze test on it........cause once its down...........its down for good.

cheers
oops

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I agree with oops.

Don't get "cheap" carpet. If you want cheap use paint. The carpet gets the brunt of the wear and tear and unless you intend on leaving the boat in the garage...... cheap will make things worse.

It's amazing how people will get cheap when doing a boat. They try to substitute paints or coatings and try cheaper materials. Everything that the older members here speak of are tried and proven. We speak of rustoleum because touch ups and repairs are easy.

We had one member here recently that was "swayed" by a salesperson who told him that the coating they sold was the best to stop leaks..... the iboats member found out the hard way that it did not stand up.

Probably the best of all worlds to cover up wood is the durabak coating or if you want nicer..... go with vinyl. Vinyl is applied just like carpet and can be washed down and scrubbed when needed.

Do it right the first time. The boat is going to last you many years if you do.... and over the life of the boat it is a small investment.

If you really want carpet ......... get the good stuff so it does not wear out, so it lays down properly and so it will last more than a season or two.

 

[Les Robb]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I agree with the vinyl choice, when I ripped out the blue carpet in my 77 Glasstron the original non skid mottled vinyl was exposed. Very durable but ruined by carpet adhesive. Just a little looking on the web gave me several options including one that looks like original color. As soon as I close this out I'm going to check the iboat store (shame on me for not checking there first)

Yep same product and about 1/2 the cost. Too bad for me they don't have the blue, I want to match the interior.

 

[joza]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I've been looking into carpet as well for my restoration project. Both of my brothers-in-law and my father-in-law are all floor layers. I asked them if I could use the commercial grade carpet tiles typically used in offices, hospitals, etc. They said no problem.

The rubber backing won't degrade and the carpet itself is made of nylon and won't fade. They also said that I could use an outdoor type adhesive to hold it in place. These tiles typically come in 24" x24" squares. They said to only apply adhesive on the corners and in the center, like the pattern of the number 5 on dice. Reason being, if the tile gets damaged or dirty, you can remove it, replace it or throw it on the driveway and scrub it. So get a few extras just in case you need to replace some.

We have our sun room done with that stuff, left overs from jobs they did and the stuff wears like iron. You have to go through that room to get in from the back door which is where 99% of the traffic is, I've taken the tiles out and hosed them down and put the back. They're like new and they're over 10 years old.

We have a store nearby that deals in left over products from construction jobs and such and they have a pretty big selection of those types of tiles, that's where I'll buy mine. I mainly what to use it because of the durability and because it comes in all kinds of colors and patterns. I can't stand the boring marine carpets out there.

Hope that helps. When we get to that stage of our project I will surely post photos.

 

[Nivekt]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

Don't worry about the carpet bashers on here.....its your boat do what yu please.
With that said, I used the grey outdoor carpet from Home Depot. I painted the deck with gray Rustolium first, then glued the carpet down with contact cement. Its been on there going on 2 1/2 years and it still looks good and is holding up very well. It has not caused any rot so far but i do keep the bow up and the boat covered when no in use.
I do have one spot were my portable gas tank vent spilled out some gas and it discolored it a bit. However, the contact cement held strong. If its the same carpet that I have, it has a no fade warranty as well. I installed some side panels a couple of months ago and the 2 1/2 year old carpet is the same exact color as the new stuff on the side panal.

Not trying to threadjack here, but the irony of the quote in your signature cracks me up! Thanks!

 

[oops!]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I've been looking into carpet as well for my restoration project. Both of my brothers-in-law and my father-in-law are all floor layers. I asked them if I could use the commercial grade carpet tiles typically used in offices, hospitals, etc. They said no problem.

The rubber backing won't degrade and the carpet itself is made of nylon and won't fade. They also said that I could use an outdoor type adhesive to hold it in place. These tiles typically come in 24" x24" squares. They said to only apply adhesive on the corners and in the center, like the pattern of the number 5 on dice. Reason being, if the tile gets damaged or dirty, you can remove it, replace it or throw it on the driveway and scrub it. So get a few extras just in case you need to replace some.

We have our sun room done with that stuff, left overs from jobs they did and the stuff wears like iron. You have to go through that room to get in from the back door which is where 99% of the traffic is, I've taken the tiles out and hosed them down and put the back. They're like new and they're over 10 years old.

We have a store nearby that deals in left over products from construction jobs and such and they have a pretty big selection of those types of tiles, that's where I'll buy mine. I mainly what to use it because of the durability and because it comes in all kinds of colors and patterns. I can't stand the boring marine carpets out there.

Hope that helps. When we get to that stage of our project I will surely post photos.

thank you for using the search feature josa.....and welcome to i boats !
good luck on the carpet job abd post pics !

cheers
oops!

 

[Boatingchatuge]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I used the indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowe's on my Four Winns Vista, and it works great. I picked their's primarily because they had the right color (blue).
It was easy to work with, easy to cut. I used the outdoor carpet adhesive and everything is staying in place. Feels great on the feet, doesn't get too hot, looks good.

Let's go boating!

 

[109jb]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I've used the HD carpet without the rubber backing before and it will work OK. Biggest problem is the bleed through that was mentioned before. The boat I used it on I didn't give a rip about some bleed through and just went with it anyway. It held up OK, but the rubber backed is much better.

 

[oops!]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

old thread 109

 

[109jb]

Re: What type of carpet to use?

I guess I should have looked at the dates on the threads a few up the list.